The last few weeks and months have seen a number of members of Bitcoin mining operations in South Africa (Bitclub Network and Lifestyle Galaxy, in particular) shifting their attentions to other network marketing opportunities in the cryptocurrency space – in particular Karatbars International and something going by the name of “LeoCoin”.

Whilst I am well familiar with Karatbar (a well-established and reputable German company in the business of gold and gold-backed cryptocurrencies that has been around since 2011), the first I heard of this “Leocoin” was when I received a call from a guy in Dubai a few months ago. (It later turned out that he was from Pakistan). During the call he told me that “LeoCoin” would be launching in South Africa soon and that if I joined under him, and brought my team across, I would “earn handsomely”.

Now call me blindly loyal to Bitclub Network, or a skeptic, but this approach raised a lot of red flags in my head – especially with all the scams, pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes doing the rounds of late.

This being said, I decided to feign interest and asked him to expand on his Leocoin offering. This obviously elicited much interest from the guy who then started bombarding me with whatsapp videos to sit through.

Jokingly, I told him that if he joined my Bitclub Network business, I would join his “LeoCoin” business! Next thing I know, he had registered as a free member under me and started promoting Leocoin on our Bitclub facebook page – a no-no in my book and something I found to be in bad taste. The gentleman in question was promptly removed from our facebook page, never to be seen of or heard from again…

One thing I recall him saying though was that Leocoin members were actively targeting Bitclub Network members in Africa (especially those with large teams) with the aim of luring them away and recruiting them.

Unfortunately, they’ve partially succeeded in their efforts, because no sooner had I informed the Bitclub Network leadership in South Africa of this Leocoin approach that I learnt that a number of our members had already moved to Leocoin – probably blinded by promises of riches.

I found this to be quite sad, but on reflection, realised that this is the nature of network marketing: network marketers get restless and are often on the look out for the next “big thing”. Loyalty is often shallow – transient in nature.

I never watched the Leocoin videos, and never will. The initial approach, and the manner of the approach, put me off. Leocoin may well be amazing, an opportunity of a lifetime – but it may NOT be, and an article I came across recently added to my doubts. Anyway, it’s not for me to judge and to the Bitclub Network members who left and joined them, go my best wishes.

But why the need to jump ship? That is the question I’ve been asking myself of late.

Bitclub Network, for those of you who are new to my blogs, has been around since 2014 and has a membership of around 675 000 members around the world. It mines Bitcoin through its facility in Rekjavik Iceland and is soon to start mining though its facility in Montana in the US. It’s one of the top ten miners in the world and its mining operations are recorded on the Blockchain for all to see. It also has an incredible compensation plan – widely regarded as extremely generous.

Many Bitclub Network members members have been making a lot of money, money paid to them daily – in Bitcoin. So no problem there.

I believe that the problem – if there is indeed a “problem” is two-fold: the first is that mining earnings have been low for a while now – something that has elicited negative comments from team members who joined Bitclub Network not to build teams, but to live off the mining earnings. When mining earnings decrease from a good 3 – 5% per month (as they were in 2015 when I first joined Bitclub Network), to less than 1% currently, you are bound to get complaints. Especially from people who do not understand Bitcoin mining and its purpose of creating more Bitcoin over time. People not familiar with Bitcoin mining are only interested in short-term returns. How much can they earn per day, per week or per month..

When you have a large Bitclub Network team and you spend your days trying to educate your team members and pacify them, it’s likely that after a time, you grow tired of doing so – and open yourself up to approaches from other network marketing companies…

I believe that a second reason for people jumping ship is the lack of a tangible and “sellable” product to sell.

Bitclub Network has always been a miner of Bitcoin. Recently, it has also become a trader of Bitcoin with the introduction of its trading platform. This was launched with much excitement and the potential of high returns.

Unfortunately, the majority of members in South Africa did not share the excitement. For one thing, trading carries risk. It’s also expensive. Before one can trade, one has to buy a 12 month trading licence. People just do not have the money. The South African economy is flat, jobs are being lost on a daily basis and as a result, people are a lot more cautious with their investments. Also it’s our opinion that one should ideally have some experience in trading before venturing into Bitcoin trading.

The third Bitclub Network product ie BC Premier, the concierge service – does not – in my opinion anyway – cater for the average person. If you’re a business traveller flying around the world and staying in top hotels, the product will talk to you. But to the person who lives in Soweto who just manages to scrape by – not.

So I believe these to be issues that COULD cause frustrations amongst members – especially those members who are battling financially, and who are looking exclusively at higher mining earnings to sustain them.

All this being said, do I still BELIEVE in Bitclub Network?Absolutely I do.

Despite the frustrations that I share over low mining earnings and the lack of an exciting and affordable product to sell, I still believe Bitclub Network to be a solid and potentially lucrative business opportunity.

The Bitcoin price WILL go up, and hopefully with it, the mining earnings will improve and attain the levels seen in 2015 and 2016. I also believe that we WILL be given products that TALK to us in Africa.

In the meantime, our advice to people wanting to join Bitclub Network is to join ONLY if they BELIEVE in Bitcoin, want to ACCUMULATE Bitcoin, view Bitcoin mining over the MEDIUM and LONG TERM and are intent on introducing others and BUILDING A TEAM. Those who have limited funds and need to LIVE on their mining earnings might want to think twice.

In our opinion, and in the interests of HONESTY, there is currently a better option available than for example, a Pool 1 mining share purchase: an option that will cost them less and make them more money in the short term. We are all about honesty, ethics and advising people correctly. I’d be happy to share this opportunity with anyone interested.

Gerard Kavonic was one of the first people to join Bitclub Network South Africa in 2015. He has the rank of Master Builder. He has two websites: www.bitclub.co.za and www.bitclubblog.comand co-administers a sizeable team around the world with his business partner and colleague, Derek Clements. Anyone wanting to join BitClub Network as a paid member must register as a free member first. If you’ve already been introduced to BitClub Network, you should register under that person, assuming that he or she has a good understanding of the business. (This is hugely important!). If you don’t have anyone to register under, you’re welcome to join under username GERARD or on https://bitclubnetwork.com/gerard/signup.html Gerard can be reached on +27 83 444 9888 and on gerard@kavonichone.co.za and more@bitclubnetwork.co.za